


who lives, who dies? -

by alvaughn



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Character Death, F/M, Hamilton AU, M/M, pls dont judge me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 17:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6966445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alvaughn/pseuds/alvaughn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>it always comes when you don't expect it. when you turn your back, that's when life strikes. that's what happened. </p><p>josh turned his back for a moment. </p><p>and life striked hard. </p><p>[ it comes in three waves. ]</p>
            </blockquote>





	who lives, who dies? -

**Author's Note:**

> pls don't judge me. i'm a hamilton stan now but i've missed writing joshler so much so this is a lil thing just to get it out of my system. idk. 
> 
> so, anyways, josh is eliza and tyler is ham. :') i'm dead inside :')

**i.**

josh rolls over in the large bed, hand reaching over towards the other side of the bed to reach out for his husband who -- isn't there. 

of course. 

leaning up, josh stretches out above his head before tossing the comforter off of his legs before he climbs out of bed. his feet patter against the hardwood floor as he climbs down the stairs, walking towards tyler's study. he knocks once, twice on the door before hearing tyler's quiet 'come in'. 

"my love," josh sighs quietly as his eyes are drawn immediately to where tyler's hands are scrawling quickly across the paper in front of him. "why are you awake? it's so late." 

tyler glances up towards josh, soft face illuminated by the lit candle in front of him. "i have a meeting in the morning, i need to get this done before then, joshua." 

"come back to sleep," josh tries -- it's worthless, but for some reason, he still tries. "you can work on that in the morning." 

"i need to get this done." tyler replies, looking back down at the paper. josh bites at the inside of his cheek, brushing his hand against his arm. he knows that tyler puts work above all else -- especially above josh himself -- and it breaks his heart, but he understands. tyler has been going nonstop since he was born, and josh shouldn't have expected him to change just because they were in love. 

"well, i'm going back to sleep." josh's voice drops into a whisper, and tyler glances up again before dropping the pen and gesturing for josh to come towards him. josh does so, walks around the large desk and gets close enough to tyler for him to grab josh's hand. he presses a few kisses against the back of josh's hand before josh leaned in and pressed a kiss against the top of tyler's head. 

"best of husbands and best of men." tyler mumbles and josh blushes, squeezing tyler's hand that was holding his own. "i love you, joshua." 

"i love you, too, tyler." he smiled, leaning to press another kiss against tyler's head. 

josh leaves the office and heads back to the bedroom, opting to lay in tyler's spot instead of his own to go back to sleep. there's an unsettling feeling in his stomach screaming that was to be their final interaction as lovers. 

oh, how little he knows.

**ii.**

there's a knock at the door. josh doesn't budge; sometimes people just stop by their house to speak to tyler, or even to just complain to josh about his husband and his mouth that never seems to stop moving. there's a pounding at the door. josh picks himself up from the lounge chair and easily opens the door. his stomach drops. 

"hello?" he asks, staring down at a pale-faced mark. 

"there's been an accident." 

* * *

the ride to the doctor's house is the longest ride of josh's life. 

by the time they arrive, josh cannot get into the house fast enough. the doctor rushes out of the front room and catches josh by his shoulders, holding him there for a moment until josh's panic settles enough for him to hear the calm words of the doctor. 

"joshua, there's something i need you to know... the wound was infected by the time we got back here, and there's not much i can do more at this point. i am so sorry." 

josh feels his heart plummet into his stomach, and he tries to blink away the tears before choking out the question. "can i see him? can i please see him?" 

"of course. please just be careful, it struck him right between the ribs. he is in a lot of pain right now." josh nods, following the doctor into the front room. tyler is draped across the operating table in the center of the room, and josh chokes bad a sob as he rushes towards tyler's side. 

"my love..." he whispers, and tyler opens his eyes, just a little bit, and josh can't help himself but cry. "what happened to you?" 

tyler doesn't answer, just raises his hand from where it rests beside him to grip josh's own. "i'm so sorry." the words hardly pass through tyler's teeth before josh shakes his head, gripping tyler's hand tightly in his own.

"don't apologize, please. just -- just try to make it through this. i don't know what i would do without you, please." 

tyler smiles weakly up to josh, nuzzling his head into the free hand josh has moved into his hair. "you had a life before me, joshua. you'll have a life after me." 

josh whimpers, tears freely flowing down his face as he shakes his head quickly. "no, no, no. i don't want to live without you. i don't want to live without you, tyler." 

tyler takes a weak breath and pulls josh's hand up towards his mouth, pressing a long kiss against the back of his hand. "you are the love of my life, joshua william dun. thank you for your patience with me. take your time - we'll see each other again, my love." 

josh doesn't have time to speak before tyler's grip weakens on his hand, his body going limp beneath his touch. josh sobs over tyler's corpse, practically screaming with his cries until the doctor pulls josh away from tyler's now-lifeless body. "we need to clean up his body. i'll get mark so he can take you home. i'm very sorry for your loss, joshua." he nods curtly before leaving the room momentarily to go find mark. josh runs a hand through tyler's hair one final time, leaning down to press a kiss against his forehead. 

"i love you so much, tyler robert joseph." 

**iii.**

 

josh counts the days since tyler's death. 

he only mourns for the first twenty, because when he wakes up on the twenty first morning, he realizes that this isn't what tyler would have wanted. tyler would want him to mourn him for the smallest amount of time possible because he would rather josh create instead of cry over his losses. so josh does create -- he spends every waking moment of his life dedicating himself to showing the world outside his front door that his husband wasn't the worst person to exist. he had a loud mouth, he never knew when to give up or give in, but even through all of that, tyler was a magnificent human being. 

he wrote thousands upon thousands of words about literally anything and everything, he didn't stop writing for anything. through poverty and being orphaned, he still wrote words that stunned those that read the journals. tyler joseph was an enigma, and josh wouldn't rest until everyone knew his name and knew that, even through scandals, he was still someone that was larger than them all. 

he does take his time -- josh speaks to everyone tyler had ever come in contact with, and he wrote about all of those experiences and all of those moments that shaped his husband into who he was throughout his adult life. josh wrote and wrote about who tyler was, about what he loved and who he loved; he wrote about every experience that he and everyone around him could remember. 

the day josh dies, he's achieved his goal -- even though it'll be years until people truly recognize the genius of tyler joseph's mind, at least they do -- and that's all that matters to him. he dies with tyler's words clutched to his chest, and tyler's final words repeating through his mind: ' _we'll see each other again_.'

it always astonished josh how right tyler was.

**Author's Note:**

> @holdingnotoyou at places.


End file.
